The Burnt Ivory King helps to make up for what could be the worst DLC for Dark Souls 2, thanks to the fight against him being one of the best parts of the game as a whole. While most players wouldn't put the Burnt Ivory King as the absolute hardest boss in Dark Souls 2, that doesn't mean he won't act as a brick wall for anyone reaching his spectacular arena for the first time.
Making the approach to the Burnt Ivory King alone is one of the most impressive moments in Dark Souls 2, as the game rewards players for exploring the level leading up to the boss fight. Additionally, it's a fight that gets to be as difficult as the player wants it to be, thanks to the option of recruiting the Eleum Loyce Knights that can help across both phases of this boss.
Burnt Ivory King's Distinct Phases
By Dark Souls 2, phase transitions for bosses weren't entirely uncommon, but they didn't always have the impact that some double-phase bosses like Elden Ring's Malenia do. In the case of the Burnt Ivory King, these two phases take an unconventional approach to making the two segments of the fight feel unique by waiting in order to spawn the boss. This works by having the player face off against a group of endlessly spawning Charred Loyce Knights that appear through three portals positioned around the arena.
It isn't until the second phase that the Burnt Ivory King actually shows himself, summoning a larger fourth portal at the back of the arena before stepping out and revealing the boss' health bar as he enters. The result is an impressive spectacle, as the already difficult enemies are now replaced by a much stronger, faster, and enduring version of themselves that can easily kill an unprepared player. This also marks the transition from Dark Souls 2's gimmicky mob bosses to a tough-as-nails encounter with one of the franchise's fast-paced humanoid enemies that often top the lists for best fights in the series.
Rewarded for Exploring Frozen Eleum Loyce
The reward for exploring through an area like Eleum Loyce usually comes down to running into optional bosses or finding some new weapons and consumables that might be useful in a future fight. However, the Crown of the Ivory King DLC is rather unique in that exploration is the key to determining the difficulty of Dark Souls 2's best DLC encounter. Specifically, this altering of difficulty comes in the form of finding the Eleum Loyce Knights that can be made available to help throughout both phases of the fight.
With a total of four Eleum Loyce Knights to be recruited, one being given to the player automatically, each additional ally found will greatly affect the difficulty of the Burnt Ivory King's second phase. This is because each of the Eleum Loyce Knights will eventually sacrifice themselves in order to seal the portals that the Charred Loyce Knights are spawning from. Having only the single mandatory Knight will pit the player against the Burnt Ivory King and two Charred Loyce Knights at the start of the second phase. On the other hand, obtaining all four Knights will switch the odds in the player's favor by remaining to act as backup without needing Dark Souls 2's servers to be working or populated, while the boss loses his two possible companions.
Considering that other sections of Dark Souls 2's last DLC almost seem to punish the player for exploring, the addition of the Eleum Loyce Knights is a welcome one. Even with the DLC's faults away from the Burnt Ivory King, the build-up to the fight and the reward of help is a testament to FromSoftware's top-tier level design. If the developer learns from the success here, then the Elden Ring DLC will be one to look out for.
Dark Souls 2 is available now for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.